Lemon and poppyseed loaf

A bright cake for gray days.

Photo: Ruth Barry

The first time I saw a palm tree was, improbably, on the west coast of Scotland. Scotland's terrible weather is famous, but the tiny village of Plockton, which faces east on a sheltered inlet of Loch Carron and is warmed by the North Atlantic Drift, is mild enough for the cabbage palm to thrive.

I live in California now, a place synonymous with beaches and palm trees. They’re so commonplace that, after two months, I barely notice them anymore. But a lemon tree, heavy with fruit, will turn my head every day. When you grow up under steely skies, oranges and lemons in the fruit bowl tell stories of warmer climes, faraway places, crickets chirping in the darkness. Though foggy Northern California isn’t the tropical paradise of my childhood imagination, there's still a special kind of magic in popping out to the garden to pluck a lemon straight from the tree.

Photo: Ruth Barry

One day in late December, my mother-in-law came home with a paper bag full of fat lemons. A neighbor’s tree had toppled in the previous night’s storm, and they offered her as much fruit as she could carry. A few days before, she’d mentioned that her favorite cake was lemon and poppyseed, and as I watched her try to squeeze all the lemons into a fruit basket, I knew what I had to do.

This cake couldn’t be simpler to make. Your ingredients don’t need to be at room temperature. There’s no creaming butter and sugar together and mixing eggs in slowly. Just throw the wet ingredients together, add the dry, and you’re done. I suggest olive oil, but you can also use a mixture of olive and vegetable oil, or just vegetable oil. As always, baking times are a guideline. Make sure that the cake feels springy and a skewer inserted in the center comes out clean before taking it out of the oven. Lastly, I recommend eating a slice on a gray afternoon and reminding yourself that the days are already drawing out.

Photo: Ruth Barry

Lemon and poppyseed loaf

Serves 8-10

• 100 grams (3 ½ ounces) all-purpose flour

• 85 grams (3 ounces) almond flour

• ½ teaspoon baking powder

• ½ teaspoon kosher salt (¼ teaspoon for all other salts)

• 2 tablespoons poppyseed

• finely grated zest from 2 lemons

• 170 grams olive oil (or vegetable oil)

• 225 grams (8 ounces) fine sugar

• 4 eggs

• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

• 100 grams (3 ½ ounces) buttermilk

For the drizzle:

• 50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) lemon juice

• 50 grams (1 ¾ ounces) granulated sugar

For the icing:

• 70 grams (2 ½ ounces) powdered sugar

• pinch of salt

• 1 tablespoon lemon juice

• pinch of lemon zest (optional)

Equipment:

• hand mixer with beater attachments

• 450-gram (1-pound) loaf tin

• flexible spatula

Grease and line the loaf tin with baking parchment. Preheat the oven to 160º Celsius (320º Fahrenheit).

Sift together the flour, almond flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Add the poppyseed and lemon zest, and set the bowl aside.

Add the olive oil, sugar, and eggs to a deep mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer fitted with the beater attachments to mix for a minute or two until smooth and combined. Add the vanilla extract and buttermilk and stir in.

Add the dry ingredients into the bowl of wet ingredients, and use the hand mixer to mix together. The batter will be very wet. Transfer the batter to your prepared loaf tin, then bake in the center of the oven for 70 minutes, or until a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. I usually start checking the cake for doneness after an hour, and every five minutes after that until it’s fully baked.

While the cake bakes, prepare the drizzle by mixing the lemon juice and granulated sugar together in a jug. Set aside.

Remove the cake from the oven and use a skewer or toothpick to prick holes all over the top of the cake. Pour the drizzle slowly and evenly all over the surface. Allow to cool in the tin for at least 15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack to cool completely.

When the cake has cooled completely, sift the powdered sugar into a small bowl, add the salt, lemon juice, and zest, and stir until smooth. Spoon the mixture over the top of the cake, spreading it evenly with the back of your spoon and allowing some to drip down the edges. Let the icing set before slicing the cake.